Filbert’s Newsletter: APRIL 2007 Issue 17

Welcome to the Filbert Splosh Newsletter. Your comments, suggestions or contributions are welcome.

WIN a set of Watercolour Brushes! See Below for details

Featured Artist: Pat Hawkings

‘I love the arts, be it paintings music or theatre. I like the more traditional artwork and have many favourite artists but some include Michelangelo, Rubens, Constable, Stubbs and some impressionism.

As a child, horses were the main subjects of my drawings, creatures for which I have always held a passion. Later when I left school and attended a college course that included art on the syllabus, it progressed to heads with hairstyles. After this my artwork became dormant until a couple of years ago when my interest was re-awakened. I now like to paint a variety of subjects in either acrylic or watercolour. Probably my favourite subjects now are flowers. I have my own small studio in the grounds of our home which I can hide myself away in and dream of creating a masterpiece.’ Pat Hawkings

If you would like to have your paintings featured here please email me a short statement of what drives you to paint (200 words maximum) and two or three photos. If you prefer you can post the information.

Filbert Splosh’s News

Exhibition at Leominster Library
From 4 April to the 27 April I shall be exhibiting my paintings at the library in Leominster. There will be a number of landscapes on show together with portraits and other paintings. As you might expect they are pretty bold and are created with strong colour schemes. I shall be doing the artist in residence bit on the 5, 10, 16 and 20 April from 10.00am until 3.00pm. The library is open every day except Sundays, Mondays and Good Friday
RECOMMEND A FRIEND
This is becoming popular way of earning a £10 voucher. If you recommend a friend, who has not attended one of my art courses and that person subsequently books and attends a course, I shall send you a £10 Marks and Spencer Gift Voucher. For details of how this works CLICK HERE
Party Events
Do you or a friend have a special birthday on the horizon and want to celebrate it with something unusual? Why not consider inviting Salvador Dali, Picasso or Claude Monet along? Image, half way through your party Salvador Dali arriving and taking over everything. Image re-enacting his life story with your guests as characters – they are supplied with everything they need. Image what fun it would be, especially if you included a practical element as well – which would not require any artistic ability but is great fun. You could finish off your evening with Filbert’s equivalent of the Turner Prize. A truly memorable experience. For more details click www.filbertsplosh.co.uk/party.htm

WIN a set of watercolour Brushes

If you book any of my courses before 15 April you will be entered into a free Prize Draw. The winner will receive a set of water colour brushes (Rounds No’s 2,4,6,8 and a Flat No.10 plus a copy of my book Filbert Splosh’s Guide to Art Appreciation. Cheques must be received by me before 15 April, alternatively you can book courses online at www.paulpriestley.com

Forthcoming Events

April Courses
Novice Drawing (1) at Abberley Village Hall on 15 April 2007 – This course covers the basic elements of drawing: line and tone and no previous knowledge is assumed.
Surreal Painting at Aston on Clun village hall on 21/22 April 2007 – Not as extreme as Dali but great fun. We use some interesting methods to tap into our inner selves to generate ideas. A great course for those who find it hard to produce ideas or who have artist’s block!
Painting in Grey at Aston on Clun Village Hall on 28/29 April 2007 – If you are interested in colour and colour mixing this is the course for you. No black is used, just blue ‘greys’, red ‘greys’ and a multitude of subtle ‘greys’. If you want to develop your understanding of colour this is the course for you.
Forthcoming course the Life Drawing/Painting Weekend is proving very popular – must be something to do with the return of our very professional model, Charlotte. If you are considering this course, I would suggest booking up or at least reserving a place as soon as possible.

Let’s appreciate Art

Content in Pictures
Modern Method
Last month we looked at the traditional approach to judging paintings based on the genre in which the painting was produced. The more modern approach is to consider each painting on its own merits. To do this we need to start with what we can deduce from the painting based on what we know. Unlike the traditional approach there is no hierarchy here.
What you know
This is the easy bit. What you know simply means looking at the painting and describing what is seen. For example we might see a balding man standing in a room in front of an elaborate cabinet. He is wearing military uniform on which medals are pinned. He is obviously from a past age. Our appreciation of the painting is based purely on what we can describe and is seen in the painting. Remember here we are just concentrating on the content of the painting, not the other elements we looked at under Form. At this point some people will move on and look at another painting, whilst others who realise the man is Napoleon will being to delve a little deeper to what we understand.
What we Understand
As we can see the move from what we see to what we understand takes a certain level of knowledge, the knowledge to recognise the fact that the man in the painting is Napoleon.
Other elements that would add to our knowledge in this area are an understanding of the symbols that are often used by artists to tell the story of the painting. There are many symbols that an artist could use, it would be impossible to list them all here. A few examples will suffice:
A skull shown next to an egg timer can symbolise that man is mortal and sometime in the future his life, like the slipping sand, will end.
A red rose signifies martyrdom, a white rose purity. They are often seen being held by the young Christ or the Virgin Mary. Goats signify lust. Figures with hairy legs or hooves or goat-like features can also be seen as lustful. An egg always symbolises rebirth, hence the link with Easter.

As we can see from the few examples above once we understand something about the symbols and signs – effectively the words of the painting we have a better chance to understand the language of the painting.

Happy Easter

Regards

Filbert Splosh